Instinct
by EmeraldMoonStar
Summary: Sakura had always been able to tune into Sasuke...except now that's finally useful...


**Random one-shot...Sorry for my absence, but I've been so busy with work. Enjoy!**

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_Fuck my life. _

That was the only thought going through Haruno Sakura's head at the moment. Dimly, Inner Sakura recalled that the last time she abbreviated that sentence, Naruto offered that it meant future model of lingerie. Under other circumstances, she would have smiled. Under other circumstances, she would have considered punching the orange-clad ninja for even thinking so suggestively. Hell, under other circumstances, she would at least be _thinking_ something.

It was all thanks to that stupid instinct of hers that she was in this mess. If she had just listened to the nin-dogs, she wouldn't be in this predicament. She would be with them, far away from here, safe from both the outside, and her mind. Even when she left them, she had a nagging doubt in the back of her mind. After all, who was she to tell a _dog_ that she could track a target better?

She had been travelling with the two nin-dogs, and while they were trying to catch a whiff of either Itachi or Sasuke, Sakura had a feeling they were going the wrong way. She couldn't explain the sudden enlightenment, other than it was stronger than just a gut feeling. When she voiced this, the two assured her that they had smelt nothing from the direction she thought they should be going, and continued on their way.

She was silent after that, but the more steps she took, the more sure she felt that she had been right. She told them that she would search one direction, while they searched the other, and meet them back here in an hour. The obliged, but she heard them mutter something about 'stupid hormonal humans.' She scanned the area slowly, not caring that her time as so limited. No need to be reckless and miss a clue. Besides, stealth was the key in the situation.

After forty-five minutes without success, Sakura walked into a clearing, rather disgruntled. She was about ready to kick a stone out of sheer frustration, when she saw a sliver of something white from behind a tree. Hardly daring to hope, she attempted to be at an angle to be able to see the other side of the tree without drawing nearer. Once she did so, all she could do was stare. Somewhere in her rapidly shutting down mind, it registered that her jaw had dropped. Her brain just stopped functioning once it confirmed what she was seeing. It only was able to manage one coherent sentence before turning completely into mush. After Inner Sakura's lingerie comment, even she was shocked into silence, which Sakura wasn't even sure was possible.

_Sasuke._

Leaning his back against a tree, eyes closed, with his guard lower than usual was Sasuke. In the few months that had passed since seeing him last, he had grown even taller, several inches taller than Naruto now. Maybe it was the distance, or tricks of light, but it looked as though a few lines had appeared prematurely on his face. He had looked thin a few months ago, but now he looked even thinner and his face slightly gaunt. There were dark circles under his eyes, and he was scowling, even while resting.

When she was able to use her head again, Sakura began to think of what she should do. Clearly calling for reinforcements was out of the question; no doubt that would alert Sasuke to her presence long before help arrived. Knowing him, he would simply incapacitate her and leave; that was his preferred style. Meaning that she would have to confront him on her own. Now, as far as she knew, Sasuke was unaware that she was here, leaving her the element of surprise. She would obviously have the upper hand at first, but there was no way that would last.

The thought of what she would have to do brought a smirk to the kunoichi's lips. Approach him as a friend and convince him to come back with her. Or stall for time until her comrades arrived, whichever happened to occur first. Now, there was just the issue of figuring out what to say. "Hey, Sasuke-kun, I still love you and want you to come back with me to Konoha" wasn't going to cut it. That was just asking for it. Once she had about half of what to say thought of, (after all, she could think on her feet) Sakura began to make her way towards Sasuke with shaky steps.

That moment happened to be when she caught a whiff of pollen from some nearby flowers, causing her eyes to water with an upcoming sneeze. _Don't sneeze. Don't sneeze,_ she urged her body silently. Her eyes watered more from concentrating her entire being on repressing this sneeze. As luck would have it, she could not think of any medical technique that would stop one from sneezing.

She sneezed. Loudly.

Like any shinobi worthy of even a shred of respect, Sasuke's eyes flew open and his muscles tensed as his kekke genkai activated. He looked carefully over the area, searching for the intruder. His hand drifted to his katana strapped to his back, though he hadn't drawn it yet. Sakura had a decision to make, once she stopped cursing her sensitivity to pollen. She could stay put, and wait for Sasuke to find her, or reveal herself to him anyways. Either course of action resulted in the same thing: being face-to-face with her ex-teammate.

The Konoha chuunin stepped tentatively around the tree she jumped behind on reflex after sneezing. She made no effort in walking quietly, or avoiding crushing leaves under her boots, since he would see her anyways. His back was to her, but even the most incapable academy student was able to sense nearby chakra. The fact that he hadn't turned around immediately after her sneeze was curious enough.

She wasn't disappointed.

His head whipped around so fast, she was surprised he didn't get whiplash. The shock in his expression was visible for about two seconds before reverting to cold indifference. To Sakura's extreme indignance, he let the Sharingan fade from his eyes, and allowed his hand fall to his side. His stance relaxed considerably, though his guard was still up.

"Should have guessed it was you," he sneered, "only you would screw up that kind of opportunity." He looked at the kunoichi distastefully.

Sakura bit back a particularly nasty response and settled for, "Well, unlike you, people have these things called allergies." She now looked at Sasuke like a small child that needed to be taught, partially to feel superior, and partially to just flat out make him mad.

She succeeded. He sent her a disapproving glare before offering up a long-winded response. "Hn." He looked rather disinterestedly at her and said no more. Sakura wasn't going to start the awkward conversation of bringing him back to Konoha, so she simply met his gaze. She was determined to not be the first to speak, or break the eye contact. After a minute or so, Sasuke simply turned around and started to walk away. Sakura just stared at his back blankly. He was just…walking away? He could do that? After her rather random appearance? Just as she was about call after him and inform him that the asshole gene must be something that ran in the Uchiha clan along with the Sharingan, he paused.

"Why are you here?"

"I thought that would be rather obvious," she replied condescendingly. It was a strange sound coming from her. People usually spoke that way towards her. It was actually a nice change to speak to someone in that tone, especially Sasuke of all people. He glared at her from over his shoulder, silently demanding her to go on. " You are to return to Konoha." She looked at him evenly, waiting for a reaction typical of him.

Today did not seem to be a day of disappointments for Sakura. He actually let out a sigh of annoyance before speaking. "Quit pursuing me." This statement elicits a chuckle out of Sakura, which he did not expect.

"As if I'd give up after finding you one time already. You know that I'm not a quitter."

Sasuke grunted his agreement to the latter part before speaking in the form of dictionary words. "You're annoying."

Now it was Sakura's turn to sigh. " Can't you come up with anything else?"

"Hn."

"Clearly I'm not that annoying, or you would have killed me back then." Sasuke actually blinked at this. It took him a minute to recall the circumstances that they were in that would have allowed him to kill her.

"Your captain protected you," he deadpanned.

Sakura smirked at him. "_ Your _Sharingan saw that before it happened, and you could have dodged around him." This was true. She had no doubt that she was right about this, unless she was severely misunderstanding how the Sharingan even worked. Sasuke doesn't respond, in fact he doesn't show any sign that he even heard her. "Why didn't you kill me," she presses.

"I…made a mistake," he admits, before his tone turns steely. " I'm willing to make that mistake again if you go home now." He turned away from her, but did not make to leave just yet.

There was no denying that that cut Sakura deeply. If she had her way, she would have curled up in a ball and cried on the spot. Having someone regret your being alive stabs one to the core. With the emotional strength she gained through her years, she keeps her expression and tone even. "You think I'm doing this for you?" She raises an eyebrow at him. "I'm under orders." She paused before continuing. "As if I _wanted_ to find you after what you did to me." Upon hearing the tone of the word 'wanted' he turned fully around and stepped closer to her. Sakura noted that this must be a touchy subject. She couldn't deduce why; Orochimaru wanted him more than enough for one person.

"I broke your heart." It was a statement without remorse, and left no room for argument. He wouldn't have believed her anyway, and she knew it.

Neither confirming nor denying his claim, Sakura provided a statement of her own. "You left me on a bench. Why?" Her voice barely rose in pitch at the end, so little that she wasn't even sure it could be recognized as a question.

Sasuke's ears may not have been as keen as his eyes, but he heard the question. "It was a better alternative to the ground," he reasoned with her logically.

Sakura had figured that much. Not even Sasuke was heartless enough to leave her on the road when there was a bench right next to him. She doubted he would have done that to anyone.

"Do you know what happened to me because of you?" Her voice wasn't threatening; it was barely audible as a whisper. Sakura stared at Sasuke's feet, unable to meet his gaze now. It was taking a considerable effort to keep her eyes from tearing up.

The sneer was back. "You felt alone without me, as you said you would," he mocked cruelly. He clearly didn't believe that could have been true, not now, not then.

Sakura looked at him with an almost lost expression in her eyes. It was a surprisingly searching gaze, but it only lasted a second before she returned it to the Uchiha's feet. Once there, she shook her head no.

Sasuke waited silently for an explanation. When he wasn't given one, he prompted, "What then," in an irritated way.

She looked at him once again, willing him to understand based on her expression alone. When he showed no sign of comprehension, she finally told him in the ghost of a whisper, "I was raped."

...Which was the biggest lie Haruno Sakura had ever told to date. At this point, she was willing to try anything to get him to listen to her. She wasn't sure how well guilt would work, but it was certainly an aspect that no one had explored with him before. It was worth a shot.

He did what any man in his place would have done; he stared in utter horror. So much so, that he didn't even look like he was trying to hide it. It was pretty unnerving to be on the receiving end of such a look, she decided. Sasuke with open emotion on his face was…bizarre. The fact that his facial muscles were able to move in such extreme ways was news to Sakura. If Sasuke had underdeveloped muscles, they would be undoubtedly the facial muscles. Shaking these thoughts out of her head, she focused more on looking convincing. She had never been more thankful that Sasuke wasn't a people person, and therefore most likely had no idea how a rape victim would act.

Before she really knew what was happening, her vision was suddenly obstructed by a clavicle bone. In fact, something was preventing her body from moving at all. Once she realized it, Sakura felt pretty stupid that it had taken her that long to figure out; Sasuke was _hugging her._ Not a light, half-assed hug either. A proper, long, get-receiver-as-close-as-possible, comforting, makes-you-want-to-cry-into-the-shoulder-of-the-hugger…hug. Sakura let herself enjoy this unheard of moment of closeness, and rested her head on his shoulder. In response, he moved his hand to the back of her head, pressing her closer; his other arm was wrapped around her waist. The pure novelty of the moment caused tears to pour out her jade orbs. Once she started to shake with silent sobs, she felt a hand rubbing her back soothingly.

Only the tears weren't because of being raped. They were for the pain Sasuke had caused her. All the rejection. The Chuunin Exams. The night he left. When Naruto failed to bring him back. Anytime she remembered Team 7. Every tear since she was six was reserved for him. Only now was he beginning to see just how devoted she was to him.

When she stopped crying, and settled for taking deep, calming breathes, she felt lips on the shell of her ear as they murmured, "I'm so sorry." At this, she pulled away just enough to look Sasuke in the eyes; she wanted to be sure he wasn't manipulating her. When she saw the raw sincerity reflected, she knew this was the only time she could flat out ask. "Please?"

Sasuke shut his eyes for several seconds. He did not move, nor did he let Sakura move. He also did not bring her closer; his muscles simply were completely motionless. Sakura began to seriously doubt her judgment at this. It had been several minutes and Sasuke had done nothing to show any inclination of what he was thinking. Had she really screwed up everything?

She was worrying so much that she almost missed his answer.

"Okay."

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**Eh, rushed ending, but I had the urge to write. As for the lingerie comment, one of my friends pulled that same stunt on me; I didn't think that one up on my own... Reviews are always nice!**


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